Brewery Transition: Entrepreneur's Homework Venture Grows to £100m Acquisition (Beavertown Brewery)

Here's a fresh spin on the original article:

Beavertown's Rise to the Top: How They Ended Up Pouring Banknotes

Way back in 2011, the first Beavertown pint was brewed in a blamin' rice pan in a kitchen.

Flash-forward over a decade, and they'd been snapped up by Heineken for over £100m - all while being the country's priciest pint and managing to thrive during the pandemic where most breweries took a massive hit, losing 95% of their business overnight. What made Beavertown different, you ask? Genius marketing moves. Here are three levers they pulled to soar high:

Sneaky Stealing Scheme

Beavertown's quirky, vibrant glassware designs, featuring everything from skulls to space aliens, stood out like a sore thumb compared to traditional pint glasses. Snagging other breweries to replenish our stock with their custom glassware was a hassle, but Beavertown went one better. They regularly checked if we needed more - sometimes even offering them unsolicitedly!

It was an open secret that Beavertown actually encouraged customers to steal their glassware. Every pilfered glass became a mini billboard planted right smack in the middle of a house party - the perfect place to influence other drinkers' choices. You're creating fans like a boss with this strategy - the kind who'd nab something relatively harmless.

Rockin' Marketing like a Pro

Beavertown's slogan "Think like a band, not a brand" sums up their approach to marketing perfectly. They wanted people to have an emotional connection to their products, transforming one-time customers into long-term fans.

They leaned heavily on their musical heritage (the founder's old man was part of none other than Led Zeppelin) by showcasing lesser-known bands with devoted followings at club gigs, eventually evolving into full-blown outdoor festivals.

Attendees were overjoyed that someone had finally brought their favorite, underground bands to their own city. Of course, they were peddling their beer at the venues. Instead of sticking to traditional marketing strategies, Beavertown sprinkled cities with "cool moments." This massive word-of-mouth publicity generated a hell of a lot more loyalty and buzz than old-school ad campaigns.

This marketing strategy peaked in 2023 when Beavertown teamed up with the legendary Queens of the Stone Age. "We couldn't say no to a Grammy-nominated band playing Glastonbury. We thought, 'This is heavy,'" said their Marketing Director, Tom Rainsford.

They worked together on a music video set in the visual universe of Beavertown's flagship Neck Oil IPA. With the band absent for a few years, Beavertown jumped on the wave of expectation for new music.

"We aim to make the brand even more legendary. How do we take that love and creativeness and connect it with people?"

Beavertown is selling more than just tasty IPA in a fancy glass - they're selling the precious moments of peace and connection their customers crave. They don't just sell beer; they sell social experiences.

Their "Is This Seat Taken?" campaign targeted the issue of social anxiety in pubs. Their research found that over 50% of adults desired to make new acquaintances, but over 35% struggled to initiate conversations due to shyness.

So Beavertown scattered bright blue stools with their characteristic skull art in London pubs so that strangers could pull up a chair and just chat!

"Making new friends can be intimidating, but it's often the first step towards meaningful relationships. We hope this initiative makes it easier for people to connect and perhaps establish new friendships over a drink." - Tom Rainsford, Marketing Director, Beavertown

Now, Beavertown is responsible for that unforgettable night - that pal you made. And that proved irresistible to journalists. Because Beavertown was supplying them with fully-formed stories, making their lives considerably easier.

Intriguing hot-button topic (loneliness)
First-hand research and stats (real news instead of mere opinions)
Novel and eye-catching solutions

We saw this again with the "Open Up" crisps they collaborated with mental health charity on. Every bag included thought-provoking prompts like "What gets you through tough times?" and "If you could offer advice to your younger self, what would it be?".

So under the guise of promoting mental health, they've cleverly woven themselves into your meaningful conversations.

Notice how Beavertown positions itself as the catalyst for genuine moments instead of just the dispassionate purveyors of beer. And you know what Brits enjoy more than making friends over beer?

Making friends over beer in SUMMER.

Beavertown seized the post-COVID thirst for beer gardens by incorporating itself into summer pain points. Their "Oil Your Neck" campaign is an excellent example of this. They discovered:

Over 36% of Londoners get sunburned while soaking up the sun in pub gardens
Only 20% consistently used sunscreen

So Beavertown whipped up a free, branded SPF 50 sunscreen to dish out with pints of Neck Oil. Again, going beyond the immediate benefits (sunburn-free customer = happy customer), this move also made a big splash in the media due to its novelty factor.

"Summer is one of life's best feelings, and even better with a frosty pint in hand... but a sunburn not so much." -Tom Rainsford, Marketing Director, Beavertown

They doubled down on the summer links with UV-activated beer mats, which revealed hidden walking trails when exposed to sunlight. In doing so, they commandeered the classic "pub walk" as a Beavertown-branded adventure.

The beer mats steered drinkers towards unsuspecting destinations: ancient burial sites, stone circles, crypts, and other surreal historical landmarks. Now, all those memories from those walks are forever entangled with the brand.

The final summer touchpoint I'll mention? A twist on a walking tour over bank holiday weekend - where Beavertown distributed thousands of free cans (low-alcohol, naturally) of beer, along with vouchers redeemable at local pubs.

Each of these moves helped Beavertown implant itself into every corner of the summer as the magic ingredient in an unforgettable day, rather than just "a nice beer I had."

For more...

This talk with Marketing Director Tom Rainsford that delves into the Band vs Brand culture quite nicely. How to stand out, how to "measure fame." Definitely worth checking out (30 mins).
Tom on a panel discussing why 'niche is the new mainstream.' Some golden nuggets there about creatively employing small, local projects to seize the national spotlight. (55 mins, the best part is Tom's portion, so skip around to hear just what he has to say).

This article was first published on Bunce.

Beavertown's distinctive glassware, adorned with unique designs like skulls and space aliens, was not only eye-catching but also functional in marketing their brand, as many customers would secretly take the glasses home, acting as mini billboards for the company.
Beavertown's strategic marketing approach, encapsulated by their slogan "Think like a band, not a brand," focused on building emotional connections with customers, turning one-time buyers into long-term fans.
To boost their loyal customer base, Beavertown capitalized on their musical heritage, showcasing underground bands at club gigs and eventually organizing full-blown outdoor festivals, providing fans with memorable experiences tied to the brand.
Tom Rainsford, Beavertown's Marketing Director, admiringly stated that collaborating with iconic bands like the Queens of the Stone Age added to their brand's legendary status.
By strategically positioning themselves in customers' meaningful conversations, Beavertown became not just a beer provider but a catalyst for social connections, establishing themselves as something beyond ordinary businesses.
In the food-and-drink industry, Beavertown's innovative marketing techniques set them apart, demonstrating the power of entrepreneurship and finance in the small-business sector.
Real-estate, finance, fintech, travel, and lifestyle arenas can learn from Beavertown's example, as its influencer marketing model transcends traditional industry boundaries.
Investing in businesses that prioritize emotional connections with customers, like Beavertown, offers potential for substantial returns, showcasing the significance of bold and original thinking in the world of business and entrepreneurship.

Brewery Transition: Entrepreneur's Homework Venture Grows to £100m Acquisition (Beavertown Brewery)